Rationale

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Currently, about 1.2 million people are employed in free welfare work as regular occupation. In 2000, approximately 94,000 welfare services were sponsored by charitable institutions. Moreover, there are large religious orders and foundations in the nonprofit area. Today private hospitals employ about 120,000 people. In the private-commercial area estimated 40,000 people are employed in small enterprises. Despite these dimensions the social economy is still an underestimated industrial sector. Yet changes take place very quickly, often as revolutions in the tertiary sector. In the last years a reactive and vindicative attitude became an active and planning one. Social management should make organisational, financial and personal instruments available for problems to cope with in future.

Several development directions characterise the situation and the future in the areas of welfare work. Concerning social policy a structural change of the society, regarding especially demographic changes, is discussed. The limits of financing possibilities have been reached or even exceeded. The type of service provision seems to be inefficient, the responsibility seems to be in too many hands. From this point of view we have to deal with demographic, financial and organisational problems in social fields of work.

Others consider the overregulation and economisation of social services as a danger for the society regarding the possible loss of its self-help potentials. “Normal“ aid is given by family and neighbours. Professional services are important but they also have limits. A significant task for the future is to guarantee the balance and mutual supplementing of full-time and honorary workers, of professional and personal work, of services controlled by money and by self-help.

In the area of professional work, remarkable developments are in progress, which are not finished yet and which are considered in this project: Employees become self-employed, enterprises are founded by employees, previous responsible bodies restructure or slowly vanish into thin air. Financing becomes more flexible: Less and less money is paid by sponsors. They are only responsible for standard or minimum performances. Thus, one has to try for the acquisition of private purchasing power for the other services. Everyday work is characterised by flexible types of assignments. Even qualifications change. A spreading between highly-qualified work and simpler care services becomes obvious. This has an effect on access opportunities to professions and advanced training.

There are also changes regarding the persons concerned and honorary staff. With an increasing market-orientation also the consumer awareness rises, people choose services fom providers, buy services in addition to services with a high leverage and often consider themselves as customers. The wish for autonomy and the will for self-help have risen.

Furthermore, changes for honorary staff are obvious. Nobody likes to be an appendage of full-time social work, meaning a low-maintenance and free of charge employee in conventional institutions. Instead one claims to implement independent and self-accounted activities which imply help and guidance. In the last years, reasons have clearly changed. Once honorary work was influenced by altruistic motives, but today it has predominantly rational reasons. Formerly, it has been a social convention to generously help other people. Today, one can admit that there are also advantages for oneself that means that honorary work also contributes to one’s life planning. Therefore, the hope or even calculation of accessing full-time from honorary work is on no account unusal and absolutely legitimate.

All these developments are not very linear. They are taking place in an extremely unsteady environment, where breakings in work policy and social policy occur, the structure of employment and bodies responsible quickly change and the European equalisation process produces an additional vitality. This becomes obvious by the equalisation of bodies responsible and the financing as well as by the orientation towards East-European workers.

Within this netting of dependencies and developments the development partnership and thereby bundled projects are now taking action. “New Employment and Social Commitment“ means the diversity of jobs, structures, developments and motives, which can be found in welfare work and which continue to develop. “New Work” signifies the plurality and flexibility of employment opportunities, types of company, financing fundamentals and qualifications. “Social Commitment“ means the “co-production” of full-time, honorary and personal work of persons concerned (self-help) which is typical for welfare work.

In this context the projects seize different problems. Four topics can be distinguished.

The first topic deals with the differentiation of existing service institutions. If a welfare centre offers supplementary services in addition to their main care offer, jobs can be safeguarded or even be created. A higher customer loyalty will be achieved and the supply will be improved. If a kindergarten institution develops a new legal form together with the kindergarten workers and thus develops new offers, the market position and economic acting could be strengthened.

The second topic is about the strengthening of honorary work and the connection or limitation of conventional institutions. In 1960, there was one honorary worker for two full-time workers, by 2000 this proportion has increased to 1:5. Five professionals faced one honorary worker. In one project honorary workers should be acquired, placed and trained. As this is a “bridge building” between honorary and full-time workers the adjustment will have to occur from both sides. A special question will thus concern the “new culture of approval“ of new honorary workers. Another project will deal with the development of a charitable unit which does not have any facilities and can reorganise ar develop its resources in order to promote social commitment.

The third topic deals with the linking of social institutions with other social groups. “Corporate Citizenship“ means the social responsibility of enterprises, which can be realised by manifold exchange relations. On both sides resources should be developed, which can contribute to their stabilisation. On the side of social institutions, new orientations and sustainable partnerships should be the consequence. The project “Fundraising“ leads into this direction. Here, both sides can profit, but predominantly employees in social institutions should obtain necessary skills. Finally, the preoccupation of mentally ill people will require the active participation of partners in the economy and of “normal“ employees.

The last topic is mainly about the economic control in social economy. Setting-up business counselling and training should offer the skills for independent work. Also expansion, change-over or cooperation within this indenpendence is possible. And finally a guidance system should be developed interinstitutionally, which should accompany and optimise fusions and co-operations.

Each project with its particular topic contributes to the possible future image of social services under the conditions of market, modified demand, new financing opportunities and the European enlargement. The required adjustment of financings, structures and operations is a fact, that will affect all projects. Another issue is the acquisition and qualification of labour force, especially the involvement of new workers and the rise of staff flexibility. The question of how to use social resources as honorary work and other personnel as well as financial resources and how to initiate new exchange processes between social services and other social groups is also an issue that concerns all projects.

Thus three problems have been mentioned which are important for the development of the social economy. The development partnership aims at the contribution to the development of the social economy.

Objective

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a) Starting position

The situation of the regions, which are involved in the development partnership, is characterised by high unemployment, movement of labour and disorientation of many employable people. The development partnership aims to avoid movement of labour, to develop employment potentials and to introduce groups to the job market, who are able and willing to work, but whose access is complicated by several factors.

Considerations on the “triad of work“, which connects different motives and characteristics of employment, come from the area of social services: professional work, personal work and honorary work are linked with each other. Differentiated types as well as exchanges between the areas are possible. Regarding labour market policy it is important to use resources of personal and honorary work for the employment sector. Many people have chosen this area because they could not afford other opportunities. They consider participation with effort compensation to be an access opportunity to part-time or full-time employment or to independent work.

Within the projects, the need of qualifications will be determined and if possible satisfied. Qualification should particularly contribute to the development of more customer orientation within the social area. The willingness for education should be raised, a willingness for lifelong learning should be developed and stabilised.

For outsiders, the social economy has always seemed to be chaotic. Who is not employed in this area? The multiplicity of qualifications ranges from highly-qualified doctors or psychologists to an army of social or kindergarten workers and semi-skilled assistants in care or non-skilled kitchen helps. Since social services have become real professions in the 70s of the 20th century, a highly-visible multiplicity of new job descriptions, university degrees, additional skills and advanced trainings have been created. Professionalisation has been one keyword, scientification of social work the other one. Today, there is a countertrend inspite of further specialisations. It is said, that simple care could be done by everyone. Neighbours could learn how to care for somebody. According to the federal chairman of a charity people who have raised children could work in a kindergarten. Such an attitude is also characterised by the labour market need of acquiring reasonable workers and by the offers of work administrations to support non- or semi-skilled workers, if they are employed in the social area.

Social work is often a test area for people looking for a profession. They try to work in some jobs, do a voluntary social year or the civil alternative service. Thus the profession is not done from the beginning and for a long time, the activitiy serves as orientation, as bridge between two life stages or just as a job for a certain period of time. In Germany, this may also include charitable work based on criminal law and social law.

Consequently, social economy is characterised by an employment mixture. There is a wide split in all areas: low qualifications on one side and high qualifications on the other side; honorary work, one-euro-jobs or social compulsory service at the end of the scale and high extra scale payment at the other end. There are also significant differences regarding employment duration, working hours, social law organisation or institutional inclusion.

In view of this – positive - flexibility or - negative – confusion, the control of planning, financing and task fulfilment has become more and more demanding. This caused a particular qualification effort for executive personnel and intensified considerations on structure. Social economy surely has to deal with economisation of many social areas, efficiency thoughts and optimisation of structure and operations. But in the social area, conflicts with other corporate objectives are more obvious and challenging.

b) Individual objectives regarding labour market policy

- Appropriate qualification:

Qualification is appropriate if it imparts knowledge and skills which are necessary for current task fulfilment on the one hand, and if it allows a further development on the other hand. The willingness for lifelong learning is important. Qualification offers have to be adapted to the respective demands.

- Market orientation requires a better social management

With the increase of market orientation, marketing, i.e. market observation, product development and organisation of an optimum market presentation, gains in importance. In fact, besides market orientation, social economy also disposes of an orientation towards public existence care. Both are important for the action of social services. But the enlargement or even reorientation towards market categories is indispensable. This applies for the necessary qualification as well as for the restructuring of service organisations.

With, or even because of, multiplicity, contradictions and adverse general conditions no institution or responsible body can be controlled successfully without qualified management. An important aim will be the improvement of management within social organisations. During the last years, many theories, courses and even university degrees have been developed under the topic of “Social Management“. In our context, we will deal with the qualification of staff members within projects in order to adapt their competences to recent developments.

- Flexibility and Stability

On the one hand, it is necessary to be as flexible as possible regarding job, work place and working hours. On the other hand, the relation to the customer is very important, especially in welfare work. Relations concerning care and education require stability. The important thing with regard to work and team formation will be to consider both aspects equally.

Welfare work is related to environment. The dialogue with political and financing institutions has always been a part of the area of responsibilities, particularly of executive personnel. But the involvement of honorary workers, relatives and people in spatial surroundings is also the task of other staff members. Recenty, this particularly includes the contact to firms, business partners and relevant organisations. As much as the main tasks of the organisation will be enlarged, also the main competences of the workers will have to be developed. Job enlargement requires competence-enlargement.

- Enable setting-up businesses

Economic independence does not always, but mostly strengthen the motivation. People who work on their own account – and thus on their own risk – will fulfil their tasks more motivated. Of course, setting up a business should be well-prepared, chances have to be realistic and qualifications have to be suitable. Therefore it is important to scrutinize the possibilities of setting up a business, to advise and accompany interested parties. The stability of one’s own existence will also depend on cooperational relations, i.e. if networks with other parties are established or if a useful co-operation with traditional providers is possible.

- Target group orientation and promotion of equal opportunities

Welfare work is a female occupation. This still applies in the areas of care and preschool education. Care personnel and kindergarten workers are often in the stage of starting a family. The share of single mothers with respective qualifications is also very high. The compatibility of work and educational tasks is therefore a significant aim.

Social workers should work with target groups of welfare work wherever it is possible. One part project will be the integration of mentally ill people into the labour market. But the issue of integrating persons concerned is an objective of all projects, if possible.

- Honorary work strengthens social economy and labour market opportunities

Welfare work is characterised by the activity of full-time and honorary workers. The domination of full-time workers often prevents the development of work fields for honorary workers. The acquisition of voluntary workers requires a structured task profile for this group and specific recruitment and care on the part of the full-time workers. These skills are not yet developed optimally. In addition to an income, full-time workers also need recognition. This is more important for honorary workers. For them an income does not play an important role, but a useful activity, personal development opportunities and social recognition. The motives for honorary work are manifold. Good honorary work has the task to detect them, to develop respective work fields and to strengthen specifically the motivation.

An honorary post is also often used as springboard to a full-time post. People who tested themselves in honorary work, who recognised their strengths and weaknesses and who have been guided respectively, have a good chance of changing into a full-time post. This opportunity of personnel development is important, but at present it is used insufficiently and not developed systematically.